If it wasn’t apparent before, it sure was in May — typically the busiest month for Ottawa’s 3,000 plus realtors.

Eleven of the hottest real estate districts in Ottawa last month tended to include portions along the proposed light rail transit line — most notably in the stretch that runs from Tunney’s Pasture, due to open later this year, to Lincoln Fields station, part of the Confederation Line West extension scheduled for operations in 2025.

The Britannia Heights district, sandwiched between Bayshore Road and Woodroffe Avenue just north of the Queensway, saw benchmark prices for single-family homes jump 12.2 per cent year over year to $574,000 in May, according to data provided by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.

Price rises in nearby Hintonburg-West Centretown and Westboro-Hampton Park weren’t far behind. Benchmark prices in both areas topped 11 per cent compared with May 2018 to $589,000 and $708,000 respectively.

Prices were also up smartly in eastern sections of the city, including Orléans-Cumberland and Blackburn Hamlet — 10-per-cent gains were registered in both areas to $424,000 and $445,000 respectively. These districts include four LRT stations — from Montreal Road to Trim Road — that will be part of the Confederation Line East extension due for completion in 2025.

The benchmark price for single-family homes across the city was $463,200 in May — up 7.9 per cent compared with May 2018. It’s the 14th consecutive month in which year-over-year gains have exceeded seven per cent. (The benchmark price indexes property features in an effort to get at the underlying trends.

The average price for residential homes sold in May was $493,700 — up 6.4 per cent year over year. The average price in a relatively small market such as Ottawa’s is often boosted by the sale of a few multimillion-dollar homes. The average condo price in May was $298,000 — up nearly six per cent year over year.)

Dwight Delahunt, president of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, says people should be wary of reading too much into monthly snapshots because house prices are driven by multiple factors — one of the main ones recently being a shortage of listings.

At the end of May, for instance, the board’s real estate agents reported just 3,070 listings, down 23 per cent from a year earlier while the number of condominiums available for sale was just 825 — down nearly 41 per cent year over year.

Delahunt did allow that certain areas of the city could see significant rises in residential and condo prices thanks to the presence of LRT lines — most notably in the areas surrounding the new National Defence headquarters at 60 Moodie Dr. “The LRT will have some impact on (the prices for) high rises and condominiums for those not wishing to use automobiles,” a factor of great relevance to DND employees who are unable to find parking spots at headquarters.

It’s early to judge just how the recent floods and 2018 tornadoes have affected the market. Delahunt said the board is aware of 15 cancelled or suspended listings in flood-affected areas. That’s reasonably significant when you consider just one per cent of residential properties were listed in May overall. “Potential homeowners are having trouble getting insurance,” Delahunt points out.

As for areas most affected by the September 2018 tornadoes, the differences are stark. Delahunt notes five homes were sold in the Arlington Woods areas in the first five months of this year, about the same as in 2018.

But in Dunrobin, real estate agents sold just two homes from January to May — down sharply from 17 sales during the same period last year. It’s not clear why the experience between these two areas has been so different.

Ottawa's top two dozen real estate districts as measured by benchmark prices for single-family homes. This is the result after two years of higher-than-normal price hikes. Source: Ottawa Real Estate Board. pic.twitter.com/I0EKgEaMp6

Here's how sales of single-family homes fared in Ottawa's 46 main housing districts in May. Biggest price gainers tended to be within a stone's throw of future light rail transit stations. Smallest hikes were recorded in the wealthiest areas just east of downtown. Source: OREB. pic.twitter.com/ke8E5RU6Hw